The Hindu Business Line : KSEB seeks further supply curbs

Thiruvananthapuram, Sept. 9 The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has filed a petition before the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) seeking further restrictions on power supply, including one-hour load-shedding during daytime.

The KSEB petition, filed on Tuesday, was in response to the interim order issued by the commission on Monday asking the board to come out with specific proposals rather than generalised statements about the power availability position in the State.

The board has said that the decisions taken by SERC on Monday will not fully help it tide over the crisis. Though the hydro-electric position has improved slightly with the monsoon picking up of late, the availability of power from the Central generating stations has declined further due to shortage of coal and lignite.

With the existing restrictions and also taking into account the seasonal variations in demand, the present level of consumption means that the board will have to find ways and means to purchase five million units of costly power daily from generating stations using liquid fuels. This can be done provided that the cost is passed on to consumers, says the board.

However, all the consumers will not be able to afford it as the power from these stations will be four times costlier than the present tariff rates for domestic consumers. It being so, KSEB feels that a more pragmatic measure will be to restrict domestic consumption to 150 units a month. Over and above that, these consumers will have to pay the actual cost.

All other LT consumers should also cut their demand by 25 per cent of their average usual consumption or pay the actual cost for over-drawals on the lines of the existing restrictions for HT and EHT consumers. KSEB has suggested one-hour load-shedding during the daytime in addition to these proposed restrictions.

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